Eat in Tel Aviv for Under 30 NIS – Effie Feix Guide

We all struggle with cash from time to time, be it from an unexpected occurrence or bad financial choices. The fact is, even if you’re in that place right now, there are great places in the city where you can get away from your cooking­for­one routine or go on a date for 30 shekels or less!

Of course that this will depend on how much you eat and what suffices you. Nonetheless, here are 5 cheap and delicious places where you can eat in Tel Aviv:

#1 Kanu

Kanu is a Vietnamese street food restaurant that offers delicious healthy spring rolls that are just to die for. There are also other yummy options such as buns and dim sums.

The spring rolls are about 28/29 nis and the other dishes vary a little bit from that, but the price range doesn’t go beyond 39 nis per dish.

Most of the dishes have vegan/vegetarian options which only extends the restaurant’s crowd!

Kanu is located on Nachlat Binyamin 53 and also on Hertzl 77. The branch on Nachlat Binyamin is very small and cozy kind of kiosk­like, there are only a few places to sit on by the counter and the branch on Hertzl is much bigger with lots of tables to choose from.

Market is also a vegan friendly place that serves home cooked food for all tastes. They offer different soups, my personal favorite is the sweet potato one, as well as Indian, Moroccan, and Asian among other dishes. All of them are tasty and super healthy!

The price range for these dishes varies between 23 to 25 nis and they’re all pretty well served.

Market is located on King George 31 and there are a few places to sit inside at high counter­like tables and there’s also a small, cozy sitting area outside.

Okay, so far I’ve mentioned two vegan friendly places and you might wonder, but what if you’re a meat person or a real carnivore?

To answer your question, Frank is a gourmet­like hot dog diner that serves fantastic hot dogs for great prices if you think of how amazing they are. There is a variety of hot dogs to choose from and the options are bratwürste, veal, and chicken.

The hot dogs go for 21 nis for the small ones and 26 for the extra large ones. No idea why there is no medium or large. They also offer potatoes as a side dish for 12 nis, which you can upgrade and have melted cheddar cheese on top for an extra 4 nis.

Pasta Basta is a dynamic pasta restaurant where you can choose the kind of pasta, the sauce, and the toppings you want. The options are endless and phenomenal, no matter how many times you eat there, you can always try something new!

Your options are Radiatore, Fettuccine, Whole Wheat Penne, and Ravioli, which adds an extra 6 nis to the total amount of the dish. The sauces go for 19, 23, and 26 nis; Tomato, Rose, Butter and Parmesan, and Ali Oglio being the cheaper ones.

There’s a wide variety of toppings, including sweet potato, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, mozzarella balls and artichoke just to name a few. Their prices are between 4 to 15 nis, which is fairly reasonable.

They also offer soups, salads, and amazing desserts for 15 nis.

Pasta Basta is always crowded with hungry people and is located at the top of the Carmel Market by the courtyard, on Allenby street.

Last but certainly not least Falafel Gabay is the best example of the Israeli street food! They have a wide variety of daily dishes along with their set menu. You can get a top­notch Falafel for 16 nis and, in the winter, all sorts of soups for just 22 nis!

The staff is incredibly warm and they even have their own cheer song, which in Hebrew goes:

ךתוא דבכמ יאבג לפאלפ !יאבג םתרחבש הדות!יאבג םתרחבש הדות!

And in English that stands for “Thank you for choosing Gabay! Falafel Gabay embraces you!

I used to go there on a daily basis and they even knew me by my first name and gave me hugs.